Many people do a DSCR loan at this point, which would be a 30-year term.

However, I have relationships with people who can do the work better and I am more analytical and geared towards the business side.

I would hate to see the buyer default and then discover you lose everything because your contract wasn't set up correctly.Yes, you can terminate/evict as long as your contract is set up correctly.The tenant/buyer should not pay your mortgage.

@Jason Sinclair, having a designer for a wife, I would answer that it really depends heavily on each house, the flow and usability of the spaces as they are, and the overall use of space in the house as a whole.That being said, while there may be a small shift towards more separated spaces, "open concept" is by no means dead, and in many markets, most people seem to still want to have connectivity between their communal spaces.In fact, my wife's current flip is a split level (although technically it is a split-foyer), and she is taking out a structural wall to connect the kitchen, dining and living areas.  

I'm not sure about Houston but make sure you find a great agent who's focused in your area. call agents who list new construction or who closed land purchases and represented people. on my closed transaction list and active listings it's land on the buy side and new construction homes on the sell side. make a spreadsheet, email and call every single one, have 10-15 conversations, meet with 3, pick 1. sales funnel. 

Thanks to plenty of smart people here on BiggerPockets, I have learned that it may be possible to offset a portion of this unexpected higher W-2 income with the purchase and "active management" of a STR. 

But yeah wow, then people don't really have to get active income from flipping business or something like that if I do cash out refi well. 70k is when coming from my pocket. 

Shana - first place to start is having the conversations with people you know in the real estate business and see what advice they have to offer.

How can I get an FHA Loan for an auctioned home when FHA Loan requires an inspector to come check out the building and auctioned homes generally don't allow for people to inspect the house until after purchase? 

If the new owner gets title insurance, the title company will usually discover the tax sale and redeem at closing.